From the Bookshelf of Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library…

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Katherine Boo

Start date: May 8, 2015

Finish date: May 24, 2015

Discussion: So Many Books, So Little Time

Discussion leader: Deb

Why we're reading this: We will be discussing this at the May meeting of the So Many Books, So Little Time Book group. This will …more
[close] We will be discussing this at the May meeting of the So Many Books, So Little Time Book group. This will be Sunday, May 24 at 3 PM at the Library--come join us!

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So Many Books, So Little Time

My review of Wild
By Deb · 3 posts · 10 views

last updated Mar 07, 2016 08:02AM

These Things Hidden - A quick review
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last updated Sep 02, 2015 07:48AM

What Members Thought

Aug 02, 2013 Deb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I would have sworn I was listening to a novel as I followed the saga of Abdul, a “trash-picker”, and his neighbors–all of whom live in Annawadi, a slum that sits right next to the airport in Mumbai, India. But there really is an Abdul, and there really was a one-legged woman named Fatima that lived next door to him. The bare facts of their life stories–a conflict that leads to a fiery death and an unjust imprisonment–are compelling enough. But the way the story is told–with vivid descriptions of I would have sworn I was listening to a novel as I followed the saga of Abdul, a “trash-picker”, and his neighbors–all of whom live in Annawadi, a slum that sits right next to the airport in Mumbai, India. But there really is an Abdul, and there really was a one-legged woman named Fatima that lived next door to him. The bare facts of their life stories–a conflict that leads to a fiery death and an unjust imprisonment–are compelling enough. But the way the story is told–with vivid descriptions of the events and thoughts of the people involved, and with their own words–brings it to life in a way that usually only seems to happen in novels.

But this isn’t fiction, it’s real, and falling in love with the characters and wanting them to succeed in finding “the full enjoy” of life comes with a price. That price is seeing how the cruel realities of life often interfere with hopes and dreams. Even Manju, the best and brightest of Annawadi’s teenagers, faces maddening obstacles as she strives to become the first Annawadian to graduate from college. She teaches the children of the slum rudimentary classes in English–but some of those children will fall prey to disease, drugs, hunger, or the violence of the street and never make it to adulthood, much less to a life outside of the slum. And all the while, the presence of the hotel and nearby airport are felt acutely by the residents, who not only take advantage of the refuse that they leave behind but also observe lavish parties and feel threatened by a possible airport expansion that could leave them without even the Annawadi slum to call home.

I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in the human condition. It is a powerful read that will inform you of the social realities of our modern world–but it will feel like you are doing nothing more than reading a novel at times. If you listen to the audiobook version like I did you also to hear it wonderfully narrated by Sunil Malhotra who does a wonderful job giving each person a distinctive and fitting voice (not to mention effortlessly saying all of those Indian words that I would trip over). Another bonus is an interview with the author on the last CD in which you get to hear more about how she conducted the extensive research it took for her to write this moving story. This would also be an excellent choice for book discussion groups who could discuss how it gives us insight on our modern world and how reading about the various struggles of the people profiled affected them. ...more

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May 17, 2013 Cheshire Public Library rated it it was amazing

Shelves: featured-on-cheshire-library-blog

Here is a book so hauntingly beautiful, I had to go back and double-check to make sure it was non-fiction, because I swore someone had snuck a piece of fiction into my reading list.

From the first line, Behind the Beautiful Forevers reads like a good novel, with lyrical prose that wrings beauty from even the most miserable situations. You are introduced to Abdul, a fairly well-off industrious teen who may be around sixteen years, or maybe nineteen; no one is sure. When a crippled neighbor gets an Here is a book so hauntingly beautiful, I had to go back and double-check to make sure it was non-fiction, because I swore someone had snuck a piece of fiction into my reading list.

From the first line, Behind the Beautiful Forevers reads like a good novel, with lyrical prose that wrings beauty from even the most miserable situations. You are introduced to Abdul, a fairly well-off industrious teen who may be around sixteen years, or maybe nineteen; no one is sure. When a crippled neighbor gets angry and sets herself on fire, the neighbor blames Abdul and his father, even though they are innocent. Abdul hides and his father is arrested, but a good son must take the blame for his father, so he turns himself in. Eventually, even his sister is arrested. What follows is a heartbreaking tale of a country of graft, greed, ignorance, extortion, coverup, hope and hopelessness in a society that can eat even the strongest people alive. The story unfolds like a blooming flower, displaying all the petals, good and bad, without ever passing judgment on it. Never, until the very end when the author discusses the story in the afterward, does the author break from the story to preach or give facts. Never do you feel like you are reading a non-fiction book about India. This is the ideal book for someone who does not like reading non-fiction. It also won the 2012 National Book Award prize for nonfiction.

The people of Annawandi may live in a sewer, but their dignity remains. If you met them outside the Mumbai airport you might turn away, but despite the cultural differences, once inside their lives, you have no choice but to see them as people trying their hardest in a deck stacked sorely against them, people with hopes and dreams and ambitions no different than yours, from Fatima the One Legged, who resents her crippled status, to Manju, who hopes to graduate from the university, to Asha, who wishes to gain political power, to Abdul, who clings to his desire for a higher morality, and Sunil, who dreams simply of having enough food so he can grow. Here unfolds a reality show worthy of the finest television.

Read it. Savor it. You will not forget it.

- Reviewed by Susan http://cheshirelibraryblog.wordpress.... ...more

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May 05, 2015 Melanie rated it liked it

So many mixed feelings about this book. It is stated on the cover to be about hope, yet I don't see much hope in these story. Finding out the people were real made me like this a bit more. This is not a life I would want to live and yet this is the life they choose. I did find it interesting to see how the views were changing from the parents to the children in less than a 15 year time frame. This book is recommend by: Bill Gates, John Green, Junot Diaz, and Oprah Winfrey. ...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Jenee Rager rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, foreign-theme

This book was definitely well written and well researched. However I found the ending to be terrible as I was really hoping Abdul would get his not-guilty verdict as well. I would love to read a sequel ten years or so down the road and find out what happened to the Hussein family, Asha, and all the other main characters.

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